Hermetic type compressor

ABSTRACT

A hermetic type compressor to prevent refrigerant from flowing backwardly from a compression chamber into a suction muffler. The compressor includes a sealed casing, a compression chamber to compress refrigerant guided into the sealed casing, a compression chamber provided to compress the refrigerant guided into the sealed casing through the suction pipe, a suction muffler provided between the compression chamber and the suction pipe to reduce the noise emissions of the refrigerant being suctioned into the compression chamber, and a check valve installed on an outlet of the suction muffler to prevent the refrigerant in the suction muffler from flowing backwardly from the compression chamber into the suction muffler.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2006-58974, filed on Jun. 28, 2006, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a hermetic type compressor, and more particularly to a hermetic type compressor in which refrigerant in a compression chamber is prevented from flowing backward during the operation of the hermetic type compressor.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a hermetic type compressor is employed to compress refrigerant in a refrigerating cycle used in a refrigerator, an air conditioner, and the like, and includes a sealed casing to form an external appearance, a compression device provided in the sealed casing to compress refrigerant, and a driving unit to supply a driving force to the compression device.

Through the sides of the sealed casing, a suction pipe is used to guide a low-pressure refrigerant passing through an evaporator of the refrigerating cycle into the sealed casing, and a discharge pipe is used to guide a high-pressure refrigerant compressed in the sealed casing to a condenser.

The compression device includes a valve device, including a cylinder to form the compression chamber in which the refrigerant is compressed, a piston linearly reciprocating within the compression chamber to compress the refrigerant, a cylinder head coupled to a side of the cylinder in which a refrigerant suctioning chamber and a refrigerant discharging chamber are partitioned, a suction valve disposed between the cylinder and the cylinder head to intermit the refrigerant to be suctioned from a refrigerant suctioning chamber into the compression chamber, and a discharge valve to intermit the refrigerant discharged from the compression chamber into a refrigerant discharging chamber.

A suction muffler is installed on a refrigerant suctioning chamber side of the cylinder head, to reduced noise emissions from the refrigerant being suctioned into the compression chamber.

In the above-described hermetic type compressor, when the driving unit is driven, the piston in the compression chamber reciprocates linearly to generate a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the compression chamber.

Due to the pressure difference, the low-pressure refrigerant passing through the evaporator passes through the suction pipe, the suction muffler, and the refrigerant suctioning chamber and is suctioned into the compression chamber to be compressed, and the high-pressure refrigerant compressed in and discharged from the compression chamber is supplied to the condenser via the refrigerant discharging chamber and the discharge pipe.

In the conventional hermetic type compressor, although a majority of refrigerant compressed in the compression chamber in a compression cycle of the hermetic type compressor is discharged into the discharging chamber through the discharge valve, some of the refrigerant in the compression chamber is discharged through the suction valve before the suction valve is closed when the piston moves from the bottom dead center to the top dead center and begins to compress the refrigerant. The refrigerant discharged through the suction valve reaches the suction muffler to vibrate in a resonance space formed in the suction muffler, and to vibrate also in an inner space of the sealed casing, resulting in low frequency noise.

Moreover, since the quantity of the refrigerant discharged from the compression chamber to the condenser becomes small as much as the refrigerant discharged to the suction muffler through the suction valve, the compressing capacity of the compressor deteriorates and overall refrigerating capacity of the refrigerating cycle also deteriorates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems. An aspect of the invention is to provide a hermetic type compressor in which refrigerant is prevented from flowing from a compression chamber to a suction muffler to reduce noise generated from the compressor and to prevent the deterioration of compressing capacity.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the present invention provides a hermetic type compressor having a sealed casing; a compression chamber to compress refrigerant guided into the sealed casing; a refrigerant suctioning chamber communicated with the compression chamber such that the refrigerant is suctioned into the compression chamber; a suction muffler connected to the refrigerant suctioning chamber to reduce noise emissions from the refrigerant being suctioned into the compression chamber; and a check valve installed on a connecting path connecting the refrigerant suctioning chamber to a resonance space formed in the suction muffler to prevent the refrigerant from flowing backward from the compression chamber into the resonance space.

The check valve includes a reed valve to open and close the connecting path; and a stopper to restrict the movement of the reed valve such that the reed valve is opened only in a direction where the refrigerant enters the compression chamber.

The reed valve includes a fixing protrusion, and the connecting path has a fixing groove to accommodate the fixing protrusion such that the reed valve is installed on the connecting path.

The suction muffler includes a guide pipe formed with the connecting path therein, and the guide pipe comprises a first guide pipe including a first extension extended into the resonance space, and a second extension extended out of the resonance space; and a second guide pipe detachably coupled with the second extension of the first guide pipe.

Either the first guide pipe or the second guide pipe is formed with a male thread, and the other of the first guide pipe or the second guide pipe is formed with a female thread such that the first guide pipe is coupled with the second guide pipe.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the present invention provides a hermetic type compressor including a sealed casing; a suction pipe to guide refrigerant out of the sealed casing into the sealed casing; a compression chamber provided to compress the refrigerant guided into the sealed casing through the suction pipe; a suction muffler provided between the compression chamber and the suction pipe to reduce noise emissions from the refrigerant being suctioned into the compression chamber; and a check valve installed to an outlet of the suction muffler to prevent the refrigerant in the suction muffler from flowing backwardly from the compression chamber into the suction muffler.

The check valve includes a reed valve to open and close the outlet of the suction muffler; and a stopper to restrict the movement of the reed valve such that the reed valve is opened only in a direction where the refrigerant enters the compression chamber.

The suction muffler includes a resonance space formed therein, and a guide pipe to form a connecting path to connect the resonance space to the compression chamber. The guide pipe includes a first guide pipe including a first extension extended into the resonance space and a second extension extended out of the resonance space. A second guide pipe is detachably coupled with the second extension of the first guide pipe.

The check valve is installed on the second extension.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Those and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view drawing illustrating a hermetic type compressor according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view drawing illustrating a suction muffler installed to the hermetic type compressor in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view drawing illustrating the suction muffler in FIG. 2 before being assembled; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view drawing illustrating an assembly of the suction muffler in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a hermetic type compressor according to the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

A hermetic type compressor according to an embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 1, includes a sealed casing 10 formed by coupling an upper casing 10 a with a lower casing 10 b, a compressing device 20 disposed in the sealed casing to compress refrigerant, and a driving unit 30 to supply a driving force to the compressing device 20.

Through the sides of the sealed casing 10, a suction pipe 11 is used to guide a low-pressure refrigerant passing through an evaporator of the refrigerating cycle into the sealed casing 10, and a discharge pipe 12 is used to guide a high-pressure refrigerant compressed in the sealed casing 10 by the compression device 20 to a condenser.

The compression device 20 includes a valve device including a cylinder 21 integrated with a frame 40 to form the compression chamber 21 a in which the refrigerant is compressed. A piston 22 is used to linearly reciprocate within the compression chamber 21 a. A cylinder head 23 is coupled with a side of the cylinder 21 to seal the compression chamber 21 a. A refrigerant discharging chamber 23 b is in fluid communication with the discharge pipe 12. A refrigerant suctioning chamber 23 a is in fluid communication with the suction pipe 11. A suction valve 24 a is disposed between the cylinder 21 and the cylinder head 23 to intermit the refrigerant to be suctioned from a refrigerant suctioning chamber 23 a into the compression chamber 21 a. A discharge valve 24 b is used to intermit the refrigerant discharged from the compression chamber 21 a into a refrigerant discharging chamber 23 b.

The driving unit 30 supplies a driving force to the piston 22 to linearly reciprocate within the compression chamber 21 a, and includes a stator 31 fixed to a lower outer side of the frame 40, a rotor 32 disposed in the stator 31 to rotate due to electromagnetic interaction with the stator 31, and a rotation shaft 33 fitted into the central portion of the rotor 32 to rotate with the rotor 32.

The upper side of the rotation shaft 33 penetrates a hollow part formed in the central area of the frame 40 and extends upward. A top end of the rotation shaft 33 extends over the frame 40 to form an eccentric part 33 a that eccentrically rotates during the rotation of the rotation shaft 33. A connecting rod 25 is installed between the eccentric part 33 a and the piston 22 to convert the eccentric rotation of the eccentric part 33 a to linear reciprocating movement of the piston 22.

In the hermetic type compressor, the rotor 32 rotates with the rotation shaft 33 due to the electromagnetic interaction between the stator 31 and the rotor 32. The piston 22 connected to the eccentric part 33 a of the rotation shaft 33 through the connecting rod 25 linearly reciprocates within the compression chamber 21 a. As such, when the piston 22 reciprocates within the compression chamber 21 a linearly, a pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the compression chamber 21 a occurs. Due to the pressure difference, the low-pressure refrigerant passing through the evaporator of the refrigerating cycle is suctioned into the compression chamber 21 a via the suction pipe 11 and the refrigerant suctioning chamber 23 a, and the high-pressure refrigerant suctioned into and compressed in the compression chamber 21 a is supplied to the condenser of the refrigerating cycle via the refrigerant discharging chamber 23 b and the discharge pipe 12.

Meanwhile, a suction muffler 50 is installed between the suction pipe 11 and the cylinder head 23 to reduce noise emissions from the refrigerant being suctioned into the compression chamber 21 a.

The suction muffler 40, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4, is formed by coupling a first body 60, which is in fluid communication with the compression chamber 21 a, with a second body 70, which is in fluid communication with the suction pipe 11.

Between the first and second bodies 60 and 70, a first coupling part 61 is formed along a lower edge of the first body 60, and having a protrusion shape. Corresponding to this shape is a second coupling part 71 formed along upper top of the second body 70, and having a groove shape to be engaged with the first coupling part 61.

The first and second bodies 60 and 70 are fabricated by injection molding, and the first and second bodies 60 and 70 are coupled with each other to form a single resonance space 50 a therein.

The first body 60 includes an opened lower side, and a guide pipe 62 formed at the central area thereof to guide the refrigerant entering the resonance space 50 a to the refrigerant suctioning chamber 23 a. A lower end of the guide pipe 62 extends into the resonance space 50 a by a predetermined length. An upper top of the guide pipe 62 extends to an outer side of the resonance space 50 a to be inserted into the refrigerant suctioning chamber 23 a of the cylinder head 23. An outlet 62 c of the suction muffler 50 is formed at an upper end of the guide pipe 61.

The second body 70 includes an opened upper side a pipe inserting part 72 formed at an outer side of the second body 70 to form an inlet 71 a of the suction muffler 50 by communicating the inside and the outside of the resonance space 50 a with each other.

Between the pipe inserting part 72 and the suction pipe 11, a coil spring 75 is installed to guide the refrigerant of the suction pipe 11 directly to the resonance space 50 a. An end of the coil spring 75 is inserted into the pipe inserting part 72 by a predetermined length, and an outlet end of the suction pipe 11 is inserted into the opposite end of the coil spring 75 by a predetermined length such that the coil spring 75 connects the suction pipe 11 to the suction muffler 50.

The coil spring 75 prevents vibration generated from the compression device 20 and the driving unit 30 from being transmitted to the sealed casing 10 through the suction pipe 11 while allowing the refrigerant guided into the sealed casing 10 along the suction pipe 11 to enter the suction muffler 50.

Meanwhile, a connecting path 65 connecting the resonance space 50 a to the refrigerant suctioning chamber 23 a is formed in the guide pipe 62 inserted into the refrigerant suctioning chamber 23 a of the cylinder head 23. A check valve 80 is installed on the connecting path 65 to prevent the refrigerant from flowing backward from the compression chamber 21 a to the resonance space 50 a in the suction muffler 50.

In order to easily install the check valve 80 on the connecting path 65, the guide pipe 62 includes a first guide pipe 62 a integrated with the first body 60 of the suction muffler 50, and a second guide pipe 62 b fabricated separately from the first guide pipe 62 a and detachably coupled with an upper side of the first guide pipe 62 a. The first guide pipe 62 a has a first extension 62 e extended into the resonance space 50 a and a second extension 62 f extended out of the resonance space 50 a.

In order to couple the first and second guide pipes 62 a and 62 b with each other, a male thread is formed on the outer circumference of the second extension 62 f, and a female thread 64 corresponding to the male thread 63 is formed on the inner circumference of the second guide pipe 62 b. Thus, the first guide pipe 62 a is easily coupled with the second guide pipe 62 b by rotating the first guide pipe 62 a in a direction where the male thread 63 is engaged with the female thread 64.

The check valve 80 on the connecting path 65 includes a reed valve 81 to open and close the connecting path 65, and a stopper 86 to restrict the movement of the reed valve 81 such that the reed valve 81 is opened only in one direction.

The reed valve 81 is made of flexible stainless steel or plastic material to be easily bent due to a pressure difference, and the stopper 86 supports the lower end of the reed valve 81 such that the reed valve 81 is only bent upwardly.

Thus, when the check valve 80 is installed on the connecting path 65, the refrigerant can flow only in the direction from the resonance space 50 a of the suction muffler 50 to the compression chamber 21 a but cannot flow visa versa.

In order to install the check valve 80 on the connecting path 65, the second guide pipe 62 b is separated from the first guide pipe 62 a, and the stopper 86 and the reed valve 81 are installed on the inner surface of the first guide pipe 62 a.

The reed valve 81 has a fixing protrusion 82 such that the reed valve 81 is attached to the inner surface of the first guide pipe 62 a to form a fixing end, and the first guide pipe 62 a has a fixing groove 66 cut off from the inner surface of the first guide pipe 62 a in the radial direction such that the fixing protrusion 82 is accommodated and attached in the fixing groove 66.

In order to install the check valve 80 on the connecting path 65, the stopper 86 is first attached to a position of the inner surface of the first guide pipe 62 a, facing the fixing groove 66. Next, the reed valve 81 is installed in such a manner that the fixing protrusion 82 of the reed valve 81 is inserted into and attached in the fixing groove 66.

There are different methods of attaching the stopper 86 and the reed valve 81 such as bolting, bonding, and the like, but preferably it is done by ultrasonic welding.

After the installation of the check valve 80 on the connecting path 65, the second guide pipe 62 b is coupled with the first guide pipe 62 a. By doing so, the fixing protrusion 82 of the reed valve 81 is more firmly fixed by a pressure of a pressing step 67 formed at the lower side of the first guide pipe 62 a.

Hereinafter, operation and effect of the hermetic type compressor according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The piston 22 moves from the top dead center to the bottom dead center in the compression chamber 21 a when the driving unit 30 is operated. At that time, since pressure in the compression chamber 21 a is lower than the external pressure, the low-pressure refrigerant passing through the evaporator is suctioned into the compression chamber 21 a via the suction pipe 11, the suction muffler 50, and the refrigerant suctioning chamber 23 a. The suction of the refrigerant into the compression chamber 21 a is continued until the piston 22 reaches the bottom dead center.

Since the pressure in the compression chamber 21 a is higher than the external pressure due to the movement of the piston 22 from the bottom dead center to the top dead center, the opened suction valve 24 a is moved in a door-closing direction. Since the suction valve 24 a is not promptly but gradually closed in accordance with a pressure change in the compression chamber 21 a, some of the refrigerant is discharged into the refrigerant suctioning chamber 23 a through the suction valve 24 a.

However, since the check valve 80 is installed on the connecting path 65 to connect the refrigerant suctioning chamber 23 a to the resonance space 50 a of the suction muffler 50, the flowed back refrigerant does not enter the resonance space 50 a. Thus, it is possible to solve the problem of low frequency noise generated from the back flowing refrigerant by vibrating the resonance space 50 a.

Moreover, the quantity of the refrigerant discharged through the suction valve can be reduced, the compression ability of the compressor can also be improved, and the refrigerating ability of an oval refrigerating cycle can be improved.

As described above, according to the hermetic type compressor of the present invention, refrigerant flowing backward through a suction valve is prevented from entering a resonance space of a suction muffler so that the quantity of refrigerant discharged through the suction valve can be reduced, and the compression ability of the compressor can be improved.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in those embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents. 

1. A hermetic type compressor comprising: a sealed casing; a compression chamber positioned in the sealed casing for compressing a refrigerant; a refrigerant suctioning chamber in fluid communication with the compression chamber, for suctioning the refrigerant into the compression chamber; a suction muffler connected to the refrigerant suctioning chamber for reducing noise emissions from the refrigerant being suctioned into the compression chamber; and a check valve installed between the refrigerant suctioning chamber and a resonance space formed in the suction muffler for preventing the refrigerant from flowing backward from the compression chamber into the resonance space.
 2. The hermetic type compressor according to claim 1, wherein the check valve comprises: a reed valve adapted to open and close in the connecting path between the refrigerant suctioning chamber and the resonance space; and a stopper to restrict the movement of the reed valve such that the reed valve is opened only in a refrigerant fluid flow direction while the refrigerant enters the compression chamber.
 3. The hermetic type compressor according to claim 2, wherein the reed valve comprises a fixing protrusion and the connecting path has a fixing groove to accommodate the fixing protrusion, wherein the reed valve is installed in the connecting path.
 4. The hermetic type compressor according to claim 1, wherein the suction muffler comprises a guide pipe formed with the connecting path therein, and wherein the guide pipe comprises: a first guide pipe portion including a first extension extended into the resonance space and a second extension extended out of the resonance space; and a second guide pipe portion detachably coupled with the second extension of the first guide pipe portion.
 5. The hermetic type compressor according to claim 4, wherein one of the first guide pipe and the second guide pipe portions is formed with a male thread, and the other of the first guide pipe and the second guide pipe portions is formed with a female thread such that the first guide pipe is adapted to being coupled with the second guide pipe.
 6. A hermetic type compressor comprising: a sealed casing; a suction pipe to guide a refrigerant out of and into the sealed casing; a compression chamber adapted to compressing the refrigerant guided into the sealed casing through the suction pipe; a suction muffler provided between the compression chamber and the suction pipe to reduce noise emissions from the refrigerant being suctioned into the compression chamber; and a check valve installed proximate an outlet of the suction muffler to prevent the refrigerant in the suction muffler from flowing backwardly from the compression chamber into the suction muffler.
 7. The hermetic type compressor according to claim 6, wherein the check valve comprises: a reed valve adapted to open and close the outlet of the suction muffler; and a stopper to restrict the movement of the reed valve such that the reed valve is opened only in a refrigerant fluid flow direction while the refrigerant enters to the compression chamber.
 8. The hermetic type compressor according to claim 6, wherein the suction muffler comprises a resonance space formed therein and a guide pipe forming a connecting path between the resonance space and the compression chamber, the guide pipe comprising: a first guide pipe portion including a first extension extended into the resonance space and a second extension extended out of the resonance space; and a second guide pipe portion detachably coupled with the second extension of the first guide pipe portion.
 9. The hermetic type compressor according to claim 8, wherein the check valve is installed proximate the second extension. 